History of the Western Maryland Championships and the Mountain Lake Park Tennis Club
Katharine Smith
Mountain Lake Park was established in 1881 as a summer place for religious and cultural experiences. Considered the cultural center of the mid-Alleghenies, it flourished until the end of World War I. Recreational activities provided a diversion from lectures and study groups.
Under the auspices of a women's civic club, a building was constructed to house a library, bowling alley, and social room. Three red clay tennis courts, built shortly after the turn of the century, were located adjacent to the building, and the Western Maryland Championships Tennis Tournament began in 1915.
In the 1920's with a sanction from the United States Lawn Tennis Association, the Western Maryland Championships became an official tournament. Today, it is the oldest sanctioned tournament in the Tri-State area, which includes parts of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
TennisWeek
By 1927, the tournament had become so popular that there were seventy-six entries in the men's singles category. By 1928, the three original courts had expanded to six. The weeklong event came to be known as "Tennis Week."
In the thirties the tournament weathered a bank failure and the Great Depression. Through the decade, the ladies of the civic club kept the tournament going, and the social activities became almost as famous as the tennis.
During World War II, no tournaments were held in 1942 and 1943. But post war activity saw a packed Middle Atlantic Tournament schedule. Despite numerous obstacles, the Western Maryland Championships finished the decade as an established stop on the Tri-State Tournament circuit.
By the end of the 1950's, the prevailing tournament champions began to shift from Pittsburgh area champions to Washington, DC. During the decade, Washingtonians won six of the eight men's events and five of the eight ladies' competitions.
In 1954 Suzie and Nelson Thomasson initiated one of the highlights of the Western Maryland Championships--the Corn Roast. Family members and their friends soaked burlap bags and dozens of ears of corn thoroughly in water. The drenched bags were then spread on red-hot rocks in layers and the soaked corn was placed on top.
It was attended by 150--200 tennis players and their families. Today the "Corn Roast" continues as a main tournament social event hosted by the Western Maryland Championships.
National Champions
The Sixties suffered the loss of several devoted tennis club members. Despite the losses, a new generation of faces replaced the old ones and picked up their tasks, nurturing the Tournament into the 1970s. Events were added for senior players. Third, fourth, and sometimes fifth generation family members returned to keep the tradition of "Tennis Week" alive.
In 1979, The Baltimore Sun sent Eric Siegel to do a feature on "The Area's Oldest Continuous Tennis Tournament." He wrote "Over the years it has become a rather hallowed happening."
Over 20 players who have won USTA National Championships have played in the tournament over the decades, including Erik Van Dillen.
Throughout the last thirty years, with ever-increasing tourist expansion, the competition has continued to reign on the courts with a four-day United States Tennis Association sanctioned tournament during the first weekend in August.
In July of 2021, the Mountain Lake Park Tennis Club celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Western Maryland Championships. Now in 2022, the next century of tournaments has begun. The Mountain Lake Park Tennis Club has conveyed ownership of the courts to the town of Mountain Lake Park with the provision is that the town provide the courts for use of the yearly tournament.
Despite a short playing season on the clay due to winter, tennis on the "red-dirt" continues. A trek to the mountains for the Western Maryland Championships brings together returning families and challenging newcomers as well as local competitors.
Hotels and boarding houses built in the latter part of the 19th century, once fully occupied during the tournament, have either disappeared or become single-family homes. However, many of the Victorian summer cottages in Mountain Lake Park have survived the antics of their guests during Tennis Week.
When not on the court, players and their families are likely to be found at the Deep Creek Lake area relaxing in rental homes, condos, or bed & breakfast accommodations. Many changes have occurred over the last 100 years, but the essence of the Western Maryland Championships remains the same--a rare red clay competitive tennis event and amiable affair in a relaxed atmosphere on the mountaintop fostering new friends and old traditions.
